Blizzard Entertainment revealed several details about the upcoming patch 4.3 at GamesCom 2011. It will introduce three new five-player dungeons and finally the Deathwing raid dungeon. It seems players will be revisiting the War of the Ancients via the Caverns of Time in one of those five-player dungeons. Hopefully more info comes afloat in upcoming days at GamesCom.

Patch 4.3 is slated to be the last major content patch of Cataclysm because a new expansion will be announced at BlizzCon 2011.

This new expansion will also introduce the three Ethereal NPCs teased recently adding some interesting perks such as a separate bank for gear only. Players will be able to change their current gear’s appearance by merging it with a favorite previous gear.

Let’s say you currently have a Tier 11 chest, but you liked the old Tier 3 design. Go to the Transmogrifier to place your Tier 11 chest, and select the Tier 3 chest. Voila. Your Tier 3 chest now has the same stats of your Tier 11. Very cool.

What we currently have is a very incomplete and not operational Raid Finder tool. Blizzard will put an end to that with a bonafide Raid Dungeon finder which operates the same was as the Dungeon finder, searching for candidates to put together a full raid PUG team. The one thing that was not mentioned is whether this Raid Finder will be cross-server. Now that would be even better.

Three five-player dungeons with new models (One in Caverns of Time), and a Deathwing raid dungeon.

Ethereal NPCs in major cities.

Transmogrify: The NPC merges two armors into one. Say you love Tier 3 set. Place it at the Transmogrify interface and add your current Tier 11 set. Your Tier 11 set looks now like

Tier 3 but keeping the Tier 11 stats intact.

Transmogrified items must be same type (i.e. mail / mail, cloth / cloth) and stay within the class requirement.

Void Storage: A pocket dimension which adds 100-150 item slots obtained with gold currency. Separate from the normal Bank. However, downside is the items lose the gems, enchantments and profession-crafted items lose the text of the player who created it.

Raid Finder: Operates the same way as does the dungeon finder.

Deathwing fight is the most epic encounter to date including a battle phase over Deathwing’s back while he flies.

Patch 4.3 is the last content patch of Cataclysm.

New Expansion in the horizon to be announced at BlizzCon 2011 (October 20-21)

Void Storage

For quite some time now, players have been asking for a location in which to store important keepsakes including treasured armor sets, unique quest rewards, and gifts from friends, as well as other valuable items they’ve collected on their journeys throughout Azeroth.
This is a feature we’ve wanted to add to the game for a while, so we’re excited to announce that, thanks to the ingenuity and entrepreneurship of the Ethereals, a new long-term storage option will soon be available to completionists and collectors alike.

In patch 4.3, characters of all levels will be able to take advantage of a new technology known as “Void Storage,” which will open up 80 slots of long-term storage space. Void Storage vaults will be available in both Stormwind and Orgrimmar and can be accessed simply by speaking with your local Vaultkeeper.

A variety of items can be placed into Void Storage — including soulbound items and Battle.net Account Bound items — making it the perfect location to store trophies from past conquests, as well as armor you may want to hold onto for Transmogrification. So, if you’ve been looking for a good home for those old tier sets or your vanity holiday items, Void Storage is it! And it’s as easy to use as dragging and dropping.

In return for this unique service, the Ethereals will require a small fee for each item deposited into or withdrawn from their Void Storage apparatus. Multiple items can be added and removed at once, and the cost of each transaction will be display at the bottom of the screen, updating dynamically as you select additional items to deposit or withdraw. Once an item is placed into Void Storage, it can remain there indefinitely for no additional cost.

It’s important to note that the goal of Void Storage isn’t to be a second bank, but rather a place where players can safely store items they wish to keep for the life of the game, either for sentimental or aesthetic reasons. Since this particular storage option isn’t really intended for belongings that you’d use on a regular basis (like your current set of raiding gear, for example), any item placed in Void Storage will be stripped of all its enhancements, including enchants, gems, sockets, and reforged stats, and some items will simply not be eligible for Void Storage at all. This will help us reduce the impact such storage can have on the game servers, and ultimately allows us to provide a lot of long-term storage space with minimal impact on everyone’s play experience.

Bag Search: Find What You Need, When You Need It

Now, you might be thinking, “Alright, those Ethereals are pretty nifty, and having more storage is great! But what about actually being able to find what I own? Do you know how long I looked for that one stack of Papa Hummel’s Pet Biscuits? Like, a year. Okay, maybe 15 minutes. Either way, not even a tiny, delicious fat baby raptor is worth that kind of effort, and I love fat baby raptors.”

Never fear, fellow tiny-limbed-corpulent-dinosaur enthusiast! We’ve got you covered. In addition to Void Storage, we’re also adding a bag search feature in 4.3 that will allow players to search for items within their bags and bank space, all with just a few keystrokes.

Integrated directly into the bag and bank UI, this new search feature will be incredibly quick and easy to use. To find an item in one of your bags, in your character’s personal bank, guild bank, or Void Storage vault, you’ll simply type the name of the item — or a word in the item’s name — into a small search box located near the top of your main backpack, and your open inventory will be filtered accordingly. Only the items that match the word or name you’ve entered will display, making it easier than ever to find exactly what you need, exactly when you need it.

Please keep in mind that both Void Storage and the upcoming bag search features are still in development, so their functionality may change before release. We’re very excited to be offering both of these inventory management features and will be providing more information as the development of patch 4.3 continues. — Source

Transmogrifier

You’ve been asking for it, and we were listening. In patch 4.3 you’ll be able to customize the appearance of your weapons and armor like never before.

The Ethereals, emerging from the nether, will bring with them a new technology they call Transmogrification. They’re heading to the capital cities of Azeroth to set up shop and to offer adventurers a unique service — copying the appearance of one magical item onto another. They only ask for a modest gold donation to recoup their costs.

Visiting a Transmogrifier will present players with a new interface that will allow them to change the appearance of an item while retaining its original stats. This means that you can raid in your paladin tier 12 Immolation set, but look like you’re wearing Lightbringer, while priests can bring Benediction back — at least in spirit. Hunters can once again roam the jungles of Stranglethorn Vale in their tier 2 Dragonstalker set. You could even slip into the saucy tailored Black Mageweave set for that matter. You know, with the thigh highs, and the little gloves, and the cute little… ahem.

Placing an item into the Transmogrifier interface will offer a preview of how the item will appear once the change is applied. However, not all item pairings are compatible with Transmogrification. In general, only items that have stats can be used in the transmogrification process. You must also be able to wear both items when using this service. Ethereals don’t have much in the way of ethics, but allowing someone to appear as if they’re equipping unusable items crosses the line. Similarly, they won’t allow you to change weapon or armor types. Sneaky death knights can’t make that breastplate look like a cloth robe, and you can’t make a one-handed axe look like a two-handed axe, or transform a sword’s appearance into that of a mace. Guns, bows, and crossbows will be the exception to this rule. You will finally be able to retain your dwarf’s racial gun bonus while appearing with all the splendor and elegance of a bow wielder (or at least the relative silence of one).

Placing items into the Transmogrify interface will increase the gold cost of the process, and clicking the Transmogrify button (assuming you have the necessary funds) will put the appearance change into effect. The process can be reversed by clicking the undo icon on each item, and then hitting the Transmogrify button once more to save the changes. Any item that’s transmogrified will have text indicating it’s been altered by the process for all to see, similar to the item tooltip callout for reforged items.

Transmogrification encourages players to hold onto items with sentimental or aesthetic value, and the Ethereals anticipate that personal bag and bank space will be at a premium now that everyone will be hoarding their frilly pantaloons and leather jerkins. In anticipation of this new demand for additional storage space, they’ll be introducing a unique Void Storage service. What’s Void Storage, you ask? We’ll provide more details soon.

We’re looking forward to seeing how players choose to customize their character’s appearance, and hope you’re as excited as we are for the arrival of patch 4.3 and the Transmogrification feature. Do you have a favorite set or weapon that you’ll be bringing back? — Source

GamesCom 2011 will be held through August 17-21, and we will try to gather as much links and info as possible throughout the next few days. You can check out the whole Blizzard schedule at GamesCom here.

The first addition to GamesCom 2011 round up comes from Diablo-3.net and it is gonna leave you jaw-dropped. Blizzard Entertainment unveiled a massive poster placed on the ground near the German City Gate of Hahnentor at Rudolfplatz.

IT’S AMAZING! The kind of work to create this poster is staggering. It looks like Blizzard took a photo of the ground of Hahnentor some time ago, painted the photo in Photoshop then printed a real-life sized poster to place at the exact place they planned to put it at. However, it was all painted on the fly over cardboard by an artist. I mean — this thing looks beyond awesome. It is also an optical illusion. It really looks like Diablo and some demons are coming right out of the ground. The art was photographed every 30 minutes, so there might be used later on for a “The making of” or “Behind the Scenes” video later on.

On a second note, rumors that Diablo and his brothers merged into one being seem to take strength. In this new view of the Diablo shown in the Cinematic Teaser Trailer (2008) you see Diablo with four hands. Those hands look like those of Mephisto. Only there doesn’t seem to be much of Baal’s features (tendrils and spider-like limbs). Check out more photos and two videos at Diablo-3.net.

Press Coverage

World of Warcraft: Cataclysm Patch 4.3

Three five-player dungeons with new models (One in Caverns of Time), and a Deathwing raid dungeon.

Ethereal NPCs in major cities.

Transmogrify: The NPC merges two armors into one. Say you love Tier 3 set. Place it at the Transmogrify interface and add your current Tier 11 set. Your Tier 11 set looks now like

Tier 3 but keeping the Tier 11 stats intact.

Transmogrified items must be same type (i.e. mail / mail, cloth / cloth) and stay within the class requirement.

Void Storage: A pocket dimension which adds 100-150 item slots obtained with gold currency. Separate from the normal Bank. However, downside is the items lose the gems, enchantments and profession-crafted items lose the text of the player who created it.

Raid Finder: Operates the same way as does the dungeon finder.

Deathwing fight is the most epic encounter to date including a battle phase over Deathwing’s back while he flies.

Patch 4.3 is the last content patch of Cataclysm.

New Expansion in the horizon to be announced at BlizzCon 2011 (October 20-21)

Blizzard Entertainment recently posted their entire GamesCom 2011 schedule. Attendees should find them at the following booths: hall 6.1, B21 – C30. Seven developers will be in attendance to participate in StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm, Diablo III and World of Warcraft live interviews at the booth. They will also be signing merchandise at a later time. Take note.

Attendees should definitely wish to stick around the Blizzard booth. Several times throughout the day, there will be Blizzard Quizzes about lore of any of the universes. The winners will get some nice swag from J!NX, Panini, Razer and SteelSeries.

On another note, the official Blizzard GamesCom schedule page has an intriguing last words that has the community thrilled jamming at the speculation/rumor mill. Was it meant as a joke? Or was it a hint that Diablo III Beta starts on August 16? Whoa?

Blizzard’s GameCom page quote: “As a side note, any rumors you may have heard about a gate to Diablo’s Burning Hells opening in Cologne are completely unfounded. Seriously, nothing is happening at Rudolfplatz from the evening of August 16 — especially nothing to do with demonic invasions.” — Oww-Emm-Gee?

Actually, the Schedule (PDF) says that through Thursday-Sunday, all day, fans will “Witness Diablo unleash his wrath in Cologne at Rudolfplatz (Next to the Hahnentor)”. That means Blizzard Entertainment is likely to have some sort of event there with lots of Diablo III themed banners or billboards. Hired Cosplay maybe? Hard to tell.

A quick search in Google shows that Hahnentor is a City Gate located at Rudolfplatz. Hmm … City Gate … Gate to Diablo’s Burning Hells.

GamesCom attendees might have a bit of a hard time trying to reach Hahnentor to figure out what Blizzard has in store there. It’s about 8-10 minutes by car from the GamesCom Koelnmesse Convention Center (approximately 4km). Check out the google map.

Is the choosing of the City Gate Hahnentor (as the Gates of Hell) for the Diablo III event merely a symbolic gesture by Blizzard Entertainment, or does it augurs the launch of Diablo III beta testing on August 16th? It’s definitely hard to stop the mill now.

Activities

Blizzard activities at gamescom 2011

18-21 August 2011

A complete schedule of all the activities taking place at our booth can be found here in PDF format.

Blizzard at gamescom Welcome Event

Date: Thursday, 12:00-12:50

Description: Join us at the Blizzard booth as we commence proceedings with a chance to meet our executive and development teams. In attendance will be Frank Pearce (Executive Vice President, Product Development and Co-Founder), Jonny Ebbert (Senior Game Designer, StarCraft II), Tom Chilton (Game Director, World of Warcraft), Chris Robinson (Art Director, World of Warcraft), Jay Wilson (Game Director, Diablo III) and Josh Mosqueira (Lead Designer, Diablo III) – all of whom will be available for subsequent signing sessions.
Additionally, there’ll be an orchestral presentation showcasing music from World of Warcraft.

Interview with StarCraft II Development Team

Date: Thursday, 16:30

Description: Frank Pearce and Johnny Ebbert will be on the Blizzard booth for an interview about StarCraft II and the upcoming expansion Heart of the Swarm.

Interview with World of Warcraft Development Team

Date: Friday, 12:15

Description: Tom Chilton will be on the Blizzard booth for an interview about the ongoing development of World of Warcraft.

Diablo Performance and Interview with Diablo III Development Team

Date:Saturday, 12:00

Description: After a dance macabre from the demonic hordes, Jay Wilson and Josh Mosqueira will be on the Blizzard booth for an interview about the upcoming title Diablo III.

dance contest

Date: Friday, August 19 at 16:00

Sign up: If you wish to apply for pre-registration in this contest, send an email with the subject [dance contest] to us at gamescom2011@blizzard.com, including your name, date of birth and the details of the dance you will be performing. Please make sure to read the rules before entering. All selected entrants will be contacted by us via email.

Description: Impress our judges with your best rendition of a World of Warcraft dance and you could win fantastic prizes from our partners. In addition to the pre-registration by email, you will be able to sign up for this contest directly at gamescom by visiting our booth, located at hall 6.1, B21 and asking for the Dance Contest sign up. The contest will start at the Blizzard booth at 4 p.m. CEST on August 19 so make sure you are there a little earlier to join in!

costume contest

Date: Saturday, August 20 at 16:00

Sign up: Send an email to gamescom2011@blizzard.com with the subject [costume contest] containing your name, date of birth, and the name or a brief description of the Blizzard-related costume you will be entering. Please make sure to read the rules before entering. All selected entrants will be contacted by us via email.

Description: Impress our judges with your best costume inspired by one of the Blizzard game universes and you could win a trip to BlizzCon 2011, with the tickets, transportation, and hotel accommodation paid for by our sponsors for you and one other person.

Sponsored by: J!NX, Panini and SteelSeries.

Developer Signing Sessions

Date: twice daily

Description: Your chance to get your very own autograph from members of our developer and executive teams. Please note that special Blizzard 20th anniversary signing postcards will be provided for the occasion.

StarCraft II Show Matches

Date: each day

Description: Come and witness the cutting edge of competitive StarCraft II play as pro gamers battle it out for your viewing pleasure. Matches will be commented by notorious German shoutcaster Homer J.

World of Warcraft Live raids

Date: Saturday and Sunday

Description: The well-known guilds of Ensidia and For the Horde will be fighting the most challenging encounters in Azeroth in exciting live raid sessions.

Blizzard Quiz

Date: several times each day

Description: Show your knowledge of all the Blizzard franchises and win fantastic prizes!

Sponsored by: J!NX, Panini, Razer and SteelSeries.

As a side note, any rumors you may have heard about a gate to Diablo’s Burning Hells opening in Cologne are completely unfounded. Seriously, nothing is happening at Rudolfplatz from the evening of August 16 — especially nothing to do with demonic invasions.

G4TV interviewed Chris Metzen to learn about the story background of Diablo III. Those who haven’t played Diablo games before won’t feel left out. The story compels newcomers to learn more about the Diablo universe and past in general through in-game books, and quests.

G4TV also has other Diablo III Press Event videos to consider watching:

DJTyrant attended the Diablo III Beta Press Event on behalf of Blizzplanet, and now shares with fans all his experiences while playing the Diablo III beta at Blizzard Entertainment’s Headquarters in Irvine, CA.

DJTyrant: “Blizzard ushered those of the press into the theather and showed us a brief two minute clip of a rough 2D animated version of the opening cinematic. There was sound and voices included, but the 3D animation either wasn’t complete, or in a form that they were ready to share with us and we also couldn’t record it. Blizzard then brought Chris Metzen up and talked about the lore of Diablo 3 and caught us up on what happened with D1 and D2. The direction of the story will be around Deckard Cain, 20 years later and he put together a journal that prophesies that the fight isn’t over against evil.

The story starts in a new Tristram which is still rebuilding 20 years after the events of Diablo 2. Fire is falling from the sky and the risen dead are rising from the grave, which brings the players into the game, asking the question of what the fire is, is this the beginning of the end?

Leah, who we’ve seen quite a bit in the trailers so far, is then brought into the story who is the adopted niece of Deckard Cain. She has spent her life searching through old ruins and burial grounds. Her role in the story is to fill in the gap between what Deckard Cain knows and the players don’t. Blizzard explained that she fulfills the need for an everyday man knowledge from Deckard Cain through someone the players can identify with.

Discussion about the combat system and gameplay systems proceeded forward from this point as a lot has changed since the last time Blizzard has publicly talked about the game. There was a lot of discussion at last BlizzCon about how the talent/spell system had gone through many iterations, now it has been completely tuned down to a much simpler system where you pick the spells you want, and you can equip 6 active skills, with two being selectable at the start with new slots being unlocked at 6, 12, 18, 24 for a total of six active skills. Also added are passive skills unlocked at levels 10, 20, and 30 for three total. Every level a new skill is unlocked and with the active skills you can swap out at any time.

The rune system was also discussed, and will be used to create different builds for each class with the lack of a talent tree system now. The example that Jay used was the battle mage, or melee wizard, (in this case the Wizard class). Items are dropped in the world that modify skills and abilities.

And then the discussion about the new Battle.net features, which can be detailed here:

Battle.net & Auction House Features

Blizzard dropped a bombshell in the press event announcing an auction house and online-only gameplay for Diablo 3. The big news of the in-game auction house is that it will be regional, and feature in some regions, the ability to buy and sell items for real world money, yes you heard that right Diablo 3 items for REAL WORLD MONEY. Blizzard will facilitate the transactions in-game.

The key to the new auction house is that Blizzard is facilitating a need for the players to buy and sell items with real world money, which was prevalent in Diablo 2. The currency auction house will be supported in as many countries as they can get it up and running in.

To get people involved with the real money auction house they are offering a set number of auction posting free per week. It will be run through the in-game client and you will be able to sell items, gold, and components through the AH, with the possibility of selling characters at some point in the future. Auction listings above and beyond that will be a flat rate per item listed whether or not the item sells, helping make sure items that players list items that would be useful or beneficial.

The players will be able to cash out in two ways, through a Blizzard eWallet, that will directly put the money into your battle.net account which can be used for any number of items on the store (even WoW time). You will also be able to cash it out to a bank account through a 3rd party service, with details being withheld at this time as to a specific service that that may be.

Other key points:

Auto bidding and instant buyout

Smart search by class

Shared Stash (between characters)

Secure Item Transfers

Facilitate player trades – not a Blizzard Store

Players will be anonymous during trades

Will also have a gold auction house and in-game trading

Hardcore characters will not be able to use the real money auction house

Quick Join Friends – advertises game to friends list, drop-in to friends games

Dynamic Co-op – feel very fluid between 1p, to co-op, any point you can open game to friends, etc, dynamically adjusts difficulty.

With more details about Diablo 3 out in the open now there will be tons of discussion about these new features and gameplay decisions Blizzard has made.

Witch Doctor Preview

All classes were playable in the D3 beta build we played at Blizzard HQ, so I decided to check out the Witch Doctor. Probably one of the most versatile of the classes it can be played in a variety of ways. You can play as a very caster oriented class, or as a very heavy pet oriented class.

I tried a mix of two to see how viable it was and chose poison dart and poison toads. Poison dart is a ranged attack that poisons the target, and poison toads are released three at a time and randomly move around to explode on three targets. This allowed for a lot of ranged control and helped keep me safe in most fights without too much trouble. Both spells were extremely mana efficient, but I’m not sure if this was due to the nature of the beta, or how it is designed to be in the final product.

Other builds/styles of play that I tooled around with involved using the summon zombie dogs which are three permanent pets that fight for you, and using a grip spell that was an AoE spell that holds enemies in place (which works well in sync with poison frogs).

Overall the class was really fun to play and very dynamic. I see quite a number of different builds and ways to play the class.”

Blizzard Entertainment invited Blizzplanet to the Diablo III press event held in Irvine on July 27, 2011. DJTyrant had the opportunity to listen to the developers introduce attendees all the details about the upcoming beta testing and the updated changes to some of the game systems.

Check out the links below to browse through the content coverage obtained during the Diablo III Press Event.

Post-Press Event Blizzard Follow-Up

Several fansites and gaming networks attended the Diablo III Beta Press Event which took place at Blizzard Entertainment’s headquarters in Irvine, California on July 27, 2011. You might find appealing their own points of views and opinions.

AUCTION HOUSE SYSTEM – GENERAL INFO

What is the Diablo III auction house system?

Acquiring epic new gear for your characters has always been a big part of the Diablo experience. Because of this, players have found a number of different ways to trade and otherwise obtain items both within and outside of the game. Many of these methods were inconvenient and either tedious (for example, repeatedly advertising for a desired trade in Battle.net chat channels and waiting for responses) or unsafe (e.g., giving credit card information to third-party trading sites). With Diablo III, we’re introducing a powerful auction house system that will provide a safe, fun, and easy-to-use way for players to buy and sell the loot they find in the game, such as weapons, armor, and runestones. Two different versions of the auction house will be available in Diablo III: one based on in-game gold, which players acquire through their adventures, and one based on real-world currency.

What’s the difference between the gold-based auction house and the currency-based auction house?

The gold-based auction house uses in-game gold for purchases and sales. With the currency-based auction house, players will be able to conduct these transactions using actual currency from an authorized payment method or from funds that have been added to their Battle.net account. Players can choose to participate in whichever version of the auction house they prefer, on a per-transaction basis.

How does the auction house system work?

Players can open the auction house interface from anywhere in the game to make purchases or list items for sale. Items can be sold from the shared stash (storage shared among all the characters on your Battle.net account) or from any individual character’s inventory. When posting the item, the seller picks whether it will be sold in the gold-based auction house or the currency-based auction house. The item is then held by the auction house system until the listing expires or a purchase is made. Items that are not sold are returned to the seller’s shared stash, and items that are sold are delivered to the winning bidder’s shared stash. In either case, the auction house system will deduct a nominal fixed transaction fee from the seller, the amount of which is determined by whether or not the item was sold (see below). For the currency-based auction house, players will have a few different options for how to pay for item purchases and receive funds for item sales, as discussed elsewhere in this FAQ. There may be differences in how this system will work in different regions of the world. We’ll provide further details at a later date.

How is the transaction fee determined?

A nominal fixed transaction fee will be deducted from the seller for each item listed in the auction house. This fee consists of a fixed charge to list the item, which is assessed whether or not the item is successfully sold, and an additional fixed charge that is assessed only if the item is sold. Because the listing portion of the fee is charged even if the item doesn’t sell, it will be in the seller’s interest to list items he or she believes other players will be interested in, and to do so at a competitive price. Specific details related to the transaction fee for the currency-based auction house will vary by region and will be announced at a later date.

Please note that we plan to waive the listing portion of the fee for a limited number of transactions per account. In other words, for these transactions, the seller will only pay a transaction fee if the item is successfully sold, and that fee will not include the listing charge. We’ll have further details on this as well at a later date.

Why are you creating a currency-based version of the auction house?

Our goal with all of our games is to ensure players have a highly enjoyable, rewarding, and secure experience. Acquiring items has always been an important part of the Diablo series, but the previous games have not had a robust, centralized system for facilitating trades, and as a result players have turned to inconvenient and potentially unsafe alternatives, such as third-party real-money-trading organizations. Many of the transactions between players and these organizations led to a poor player experience and countless customer-service issues involving scams and item/account theft, to name a few. To that end, we wanted to create a convenient, powerful, and fully integrated tool to meet the demand of players who wished to purchase or sell items for real-world currency, and who would likely have turned to a less-secure third-party service for this convenience.

How will the currency-based auction house work?

Players will be able to make purchases in the currency-based auction house using a registered form of payment attached to their Battle.net account. As with other popular online-purchase services, players will also have the option to charge up their Battle.net account with a balance of funds that can be drawn from for purchases of any digital product available through Battle.net — this includes not only auction house items but also things like World of Warcraft subscription time and paid services, to name a few examples. On the flipside, when players sell an item in the currency-based auction house, the proceeds of the sale are deposited into their Battle.net account and can then be used as described above. Note that this process might be different for certain regions; we’ll provide further region-specific details as we get closer to launch.

Can players choose to get cash from currency-based auction house sales, instead of having the proceeds deposited into their Battle.net account?

Yes, as an advanced feature, players will have the option of attaching an account with an approved third-party payment service to their Battle.net account. Once this has been completed, proceeds from the sale of items in the currency-based auction house can be deposited into their third-party payment service account. “Cashing out” would then be handled through the third-party payment service. Note that this process will be subject to applicable fees charged by Blizzard and the third-party payment service. Also, any proceeds from the sale of items in the currency-based auction house that have been deposited into the Battle.net account will not be transferrable to the third-party payment service account. Not all regions will support this advanced feature at launch. Region-specific details, as well as details regarding which third-party payment services will be supported and the fee that Blizzard will charge for the cash-out process, will all be provided at a later date.

Is the currency-based version of the auction house optional?

Yes, the currency-based auction house is available as an option for players who wish to purchase or sell Diablo III items for real money. Players are also able to buy and sell items through the gold-based auction house, and they can trade items with each other as well through direct character-to-character in-game trading.

Why would I want to pay real money to buy or sell in-game items?

Acquiring items has always been a core part of the Diablo series’ appeal. With the previous Diablo games, many players have shown a great interest in buying, selling, or exchanging items for their characters using real-world currency, turning to potentially unsafe avenues to accomplish this goal. The currency-based version of the auction house provides players with an easy-to-use, Blizzard-sanctioned way to collect money for items obtained while playing Diablo III. In addition, it helps protect players from scams and disreputable third-party sites by providing a secure, in-game method to search for and purchase items posted by other players that are a perfect fit for their character and play style.

The currency-based auction house is completely optional. Players who aren’t interested in paying real money for items will still be able to rely on items they acquire through their own adventures, and they’ll also be able to trade with friends and use the full-featured gold-based auction house.

Can I play on a server without a currency-based version of the auction house?

We want to provide a secure, fun environment for our players to purchase and sell in-game items using gold or real money and have no plans to divide the community. Players are free to participate in the gold-based auction house or the currency-based auction house, or to opt out of using any of the auction houses at all, progressing through Diablo III using only the items they obtain through their own adventures or direct trade with other players.

Does Blizzard plan to post weapons, armor, and other such items for sale in the currency-based version of the auction house?

The currency-based auction house is a place for players to purchase or sell items they’ve obtained within the game. Blizzard does not plan to post items that affect gameplay, such as gear or character-enhancing runestones, for sale in the auction house.

Will Blizzard sell anything directly through the auction house?

We don’t have any plans at this time to post items for sale in the auction house.

Does the currency-based auction house signify a shift in Blizzard’s business and revenue model?

We’ve always tailored our business models to match what we’ve felt would be most appropriate and effective for each game and in each region, and that’s the case with Diablo III as well. The item-based nature of Diablo gameplay has always lent itself to an active trade-based ecosystem, and a significant part of this trade has been conducted through unsecure third-party organizations. This has led to numerous customer-service and game-experience issues that we’ve needed to account for. Our primary goal with the Diablo III auction house system is for it to serve as the foundation for a player-driven economy that’s safe, fun, and accessible for everyone.

What’s Blizzard’s cut?

As with other online auction sites and real-world auction houses, our fee structure will vary by region. However, we plan to collect a nominal fixed transaction fee for each item listed in the auction house. This fee consists of a fixed charge to list the item, which is assessed whether or not the item is successfully sold, and an additional fixed charge that is assessed only if the item is sold. The listing portion of the fee, which helps encourage sensible listing prices and discourage the mass posting of items that are very low quality or would be of little interest to other players, will be waived for a limited number of transactions per account. For players who opt to have the proceeds of their auction house sales go to their third-party payment service account instead of to their Battle.net account, Blizzard will collect a separate “cash-out” fee. Specific details regarding these fees will be announced at a later date.

Why would I even want to use the gold-based auction house?

We recognize that not all players would prefer or have the means to participate in the currency-based auction house, and it was important to us to provide these players with a full-featured alternative.

Can we buy gold from the currency-based auction house?

Players will be able to buy and sell gold through the currency-based auction house at whatever the current market price is, as established by the player community.

If I no longer need an item I bought in the auction house, can I relist it in the auction house?

Yes. Once you’ve purchased an item you can do anything with it that you could if you had acquired it through your own adventures, whether that be using it yourself, or, after a cool-down period, trading it to another character or relisting it on either the gold-based or currency-based auction house. In fact, you can generally do any combination of these things — for example, you can purchase an item in the auction house, use it for a while, and then relist it or trade it to another character. Aside from certain quest items, there will be very few (if any) items that will be “soulbound” to your character and therefore untradable. Please note that the duration of the cool-down period mentioned above will be discussed at a later date.

AUCTION HOUSE FUNCTIONALITY

What items can be traded in Diablo III?

Nearly everything that drops on the ground, including gold, can be traded with other players directly or through the auction house system. Aside from certain quest items, there will be very few (if any) items that will be “soulbound” to your character and therefore untradable. We are also planning to allow players to buy and sell characters in the auction house at some point in the future and will have more details to share on that at a later date.

What is “smart searching”?

When players launch the auction house interface, they’ll be able to select any Diablo III character associated with their Battle.net account. The “smart search” feature will assess which item slots have available upgrades and will sort items available in the auction house based on which upgrades would be most beneficial to the character. You can also search for specific stats to match the requirements of a particular character build.

How does bidding work?

Players will be able to place a current bid as well as a maximum bid if they wish to engage in automatic bidding. In addition, they’ll be able to check the status of their bids on the “Currently Winning” page and the “Outbid” page in the auction house interface.

Can I buyout items that I want to purchase immediately?

Yes, the Diablo III auction houses will support a buyout feature as well as standard bids.

How do I pay for items?

For the gold-based auction house, purchases will be made using in-game gold. For the currency-based auction house, players can make purchases using a registered form of payment attached to their Battle.net account. As with other popular online-purchase services, players will also have the option to charge up their Battle.net account with a balance of funds that can be drawn from for purchasing items in the currency-based auction house. Note that this process might be different for certain regions; we’ll provide further region-specific details as we get closer to launch.

How do I receive the items I’ve won?

After winning an auction, the item will be available to pick up through the built-in auction house interface in the Diablo III client. Players will then be able to immediately send that item to their shared stash (storage shared among all the characters on a Battle.net account) or repost the item in the auction house after a cool-down period. The duration of the cool-down period will be discussed at a later date.

How do I sell items?

From the auction house interface, players will be able to select items from their shared stash or from a specific character’s inventory. They will then be able to post items for sale by listing a starting bid and buyout price.

How do I cash out from the currency-based auction house?

As an advanced feature, players will have the option of attaching an account with an approved third-party payment service to their Battle.net account. Once this has been completed, proceeds from the sale of items in the currency-based auction house can be deposited into their third-party payment service account. “Cashing out” would then be handled through the third-party payment service. Note that this process will be subject to applicable fees charged by Blizzard and the third-party payment service. Also, any proceeds from the sale of items in the currency-based auction house that have been deposited into the Battle.net account will not be transferrable to the third-party payment service account. Not all regions will support this advanced feature at launch. Region-specific details, as well as details regarding which third-party payment services will be supported and the fee that Blizzard will charge for the cash-out process, will all be provided at a later date.

Will buying or selling items in the auction house reveal my identity?

No. All player transactions in the gold-based and currency-based auction houses will be anonymous, and neither your real name nor your character name will be revealed to other players.

Will there be a mobile or Web-based auction house?

We’re always on the lookout for opportunities to enhance the game experience and keep our community connected to our games through the Web or mobile devices. However, we do not have any plans to share along those lines at this time.

When will this be available for testing?

We’ll share more information on our auction house testing plans as we get closer to launch.

REGIONAL AUCTION HOUSE DETAILS

Which regions will have currency-based auction house support?

We plan to roll out the currency-based version of the auction house in as many regions as possible with the launch of Diablo III. In regions where the currency-based auction house will not be available, players will still have access to a gold-based auction house. We’ll share more details in the future.

Will there be separate auction houses in each region? Will I be allowed to bid on items from players outside my own region?

Due to various factors, including technology, language, and currency, there will be multiple separate auction houses serving different player communities around the world. We’ll share specific details on how the auction houses will work for each region as we get closer to launch.

If I live in Australia/New Zealand/Southeast Asia, what server will I play Diablo III on?

As with StarCraft II, players who purchase the Australia/New Zealand/Southeast Asia version of Diablo III will have their own regional servers, offering lower latency and more action during peak hours. While we encourage players to play on these servers, we recognize that many have longstanding friendships with North American players and would like to continue playing with them. Because of this, we’re again giving Australia/New Zealand/ Southeast Asia gamers access to both regions’ servers so they can choose where they’d prefer to play.

How does this impact the items I have purchased in the auction house?

Auction house purchases are bound to the servers in the region in which they’re bought. Any items acquired on the Australia/New Zealand/Southeast Asia servers, in-game or otherwise, are bound to those servers and are not transferrable to the North American servers (and vice versa). Please keep this in mind when making purchases in the auction house.

What currencies will be available? What currency will items in the auction house be viewed in? Can players purchase items using local credit cards or bank accounts?

Our goal is to make the auction house experience in each region as seamless as possible for players, and we are currently exploring various currency and payment options to help achieve that goal. We’ll provide further details as we get closer to launch.

AUCTION HOUSE GAMEPLAY ISSUES

Will I be able to use third-party mods to track auction prices?

For a variety of gameplay and security reasons, we will not be supporting bots or mods in Diablo III, and they’ll be expressly prohibited by our terms of use for the game.

Can Hardcore-mode characters use the currency-based auction house?

No. Hardcore characters will only have the option to buy and sell items together with other Hardcore characters via a separate “Hardcore-only” gold-based auction house; they will not be able to use the currency-based auction house. Hardcore mode is designed as an optional experience for players who enjoy the sense of constant peril that comes with the possibility of permanent death for a character. All of a Hardcore character’s items are forever lost upon that character’s death, so to avoid the risk of a player spending real money on items that could then be permanently lost when the character dies, we decided restrict the use of the currency-based auction house in Hardcore mode.

If my character dies in Hardcore mode, will I lose the items that I purchased in the “Hardcore-only” gold-based auction house for that character?

Yes. Again, Hardcore-mode characters will only have access to a “Hardcore-only” gold-based auction house, not the currency-based auction house, and will not be able to trade with non-Hardcore characters. Hardcore is an optional mode designed for players who enjoy playing with the risk of permanently losing their character if the character dies, and that includes the items they acquired with that character.

Can I just buy the most powerful items and breeze through the game?

Items will be level-restricted, meaning your character won’t be able to use an item until he or she is at the appropriate level for that item.

AUCTION HOUSE CUSTOMER SUPPORT

What happens if a player does not receive a purchased item?

The auction process is automated, but if a player purchases an item and for some reason does not receive it, he or she will be able to contact our customer service team to look into the issue.

What happens if there is a patch and the item I purchased is altered?

It’s important for us to ensure that Diablo III remains balanced and fun for years after launch. To that end, it may be necessary to change stats or alter abilities of items from time to time. It’s very important to note that Blizzard will not be providing refunds or making other accommodations if a purchased item is later altered in a patch. Given this, it’s up to players to determine whether they’re comfortable purchasing items in the currency-based auction house.

Someone bought an item on my account without my permission. Can I get a refund?

Please note that account sharing will be forbidden in Diablo III’s Terms of Use. In cases of compromise, our customer service team will look into the situation and determine the appropriate course of action.

I accidentally lost or dropped an item I just purchased — can I get a refund?

No. After a purchase is made, players will be responsible for what they do with the item.

How will you address bots or cheaters?

We take cheating very seriously, and we’ve designed Diablo III and Battle.net to include measures to detect and prevent unfair play. In addition, we will have anti-cheating policies in place and will take action to address any issues as they arise.

What is Diablo III?
We’re developing Diablo III to be the definitive action role-playing game and a true continuation of the Diablo series. Players will adventure through rich and varied settings, unraveling an epic storyline, engaging in combat with hordes of monsters and challenging bosses, growing in experience and ability, and acquiring items of incredible power. Diablo III will be a fitting sequel to Diablo II, with the easy interface, fast-paced action, and visceral gameplay that Diablo players have come to expect and enjoy. It will also include many new features that will take the Diablo action-RPG experience to the next level.

Which characters will be in Diablo III?
Players will create a male or female hero from one of five distinct classes — barbarian, witch doctor, wizard, monk, or demon hunter — each equipped with an array of spells and abilities. New customization options will provide for an even greater level of character specialization than the previous Diablo games, allowing players to create unique characters brimming with power.

What can you say about the different classes?
The dual-wielding barbarian is one of the stoic guardians of Mount Arreat. Armed with powerful abilities and moves, this plate-wearing savage wields ferocious weapons to annihilate the demonic forces threatening the world of Sanctuary.

The fearsome witch doctor hails from the terrifying Tribe of the Five Hills of the legendary umbaru race. The witch doctor is equipped with spells and alchemical powers; can summon mongrels, locust swarms, and zombie armies; and hurls fiery concoctions to annihilate any demon foolish enough to trifle with the powers of the umbaru.

The wizard is a wielder of the elements and a master manipulator of time, who combats the hordes of the Burning Hells by launching environment-shattering lightning bolts, channeling explosive arcane energies, and creating pockets of space outside of the normal flow of time.

The monk is a skilled warrior of unparalleled dexterity. Armed with speed, holy fervor, and a quest for physical and spiritual perfection, the monk becomes a deadly apparition in the heat of battle, moving faster than the eye can follow to strike down enemies with a barrage of lightning-fast blows.

The demon hunter has a sole purpose in life: to track down and destroy every last demonic being that dares to threaten humanity. Lithe and notoriously deadly with a pair of dual crossbows, the demon hunter brings an entire arsenal of arcane gadgets and mystical traps to the battlefields of Sanctuary.

What is the story of Diablo III?
The game takes place on Sanctuary, a world of dark fantasy. Unbeknownst to most of its inhabitants, Sanctuary was saved some twenty years ago from the demonic forces of the underworld by a few brave and powerful heroes. Most of those warriors who directly faced the armies of the Burning Hells — and were fortunate enough to survive — went mad from their experiences. And most of the others have buried their haunted memories and pushed the horrors from their thoughts. In Diablo III, players will return to Sanctuary to confront evil in its many forms once again.

Will players interact with any familiar faces or places in Diablo III?
Yes, definitely. Players will return to Tristram and certain other locations from the previous games, and they’ll also be exploring new areas of Sanctuary. Players will also encounter several new characters as well as a number of characters from the previous games, including Deckard Cain.

Will Diablo III be running on a new engine?
Diablo III is powered by a new graphics engine that can display characters and hordes of monsters in lush, fully 3D environments. Powerful special-effects and physics systems allow for realistic object dynamics and cloth simulation, enabling players to lay waste to the minions of the Burning Hells in spectacular ways.

Will Diablo still have randomized events?
Diablo III builds on the random environments of the previous Diablo games by adding random scripted events and encounters throughout the game, creating a dense and exciting world alive with quests, NPCs, and dynamic encounters.

Will there be a hardcore mode?
Yes, players who seek the thrill of constant peril that comes with the possibility of permanent death for their character will again have that option in Diablo III. We’ll share more information about Diablo III’s hardcore mode at a later date.

What can you tell us about Battle.net?
Diablo III will benefit from Battle.net upgrades that will provide some exciting new features for players. Cooperative online play remains a primary focus, with multiple enhancements being planned to make connecting with your friends easier and playing together even more fun.

Will I need to be connected to the Internet to play Diablo III?
Yes, players must be online in order to play Diablo III. Diablo III was built from the ground up to take full advantage of the new version of Blizzard’s powerful Battle.net platform.

Players will have access to several features through Battle.net, including an advanced achievement system as well as the Diablo III banner system; a powerful co-op and PvP matchmaking system; comprehensive stat-tracking; persistent characters that will not expire and are accessible from any computer that has Diablo III installed; a persistent Real ID friends list across multiple Blizzard games, along with cross-game chat; a shared stash accessible by all Diablo III characters on the Battle.net account; and the ability to have friends seamlessly jump in and join you at any time during your quest against the Burning Hells. Together with the security-related benefits that Battle.net provides, these Battle.net-based features are integral to the Diablo III game experience.

How will PvP be implemented in Diablo III?
While Diablo III is designed primarily for cooperative multiplayer, we are building in support for competitive player-vs.-player gameplay as well. We’re focusing on team-based PvP in an arena setting, and we’re being careful to avoid PvP features that can easily lead to griefing, such as the ability to go hostile at will. We also plan to integrate Battle.net’s matchmaking system, a progression-based ranking system, and more.

What matchmaking functionality will the game include?
With Diablo III, it will be easier than ever to quickly group up with your friends or other players in the community. When looking for a group, players will be able to simply broadcast an invite to all of their Real ID friends. Anyone who sees this broadcast can accept the offer with one click and automatically be added to their friend’s game.

We’ll also be including a robust public game finder for those times when you just want to play with whoever’s available on Battle.net as opposed to Real ID friends specifically. This feature will bring together players based on different factors, such as the part of the game they’re looking to play through.

Regardless of whom you group with, the game is designed to offer a seamless, fun experience. Players will be able to easily transition between single-player and cooperative play with their characters at any point during their Diablo III campaign, and the map will dynamically adjust to accommodate for additional players midstream.

This means more-powerfuldemons to slay, more loot exploding out of corpses, and more fun on the fly. In addition, the game will offer each player their own individual loot drops, health globes will be automatically shared among players, and players will be unable to go hostile at will, all of which should help cut down on unfair ambushes and other types of griefing.
For player-vs.-player matchmaking, the game will group players together in the PvP arenas based on level and skill, making for fun, closely matched PvP action.

What is the banner system?
Think you’re better than all of your friends? Your banner will prove it. The banner system will be avisual representation of the achievements players earn across all of their Diablo III characters on their Battle.net account. A player’s banner will have multiple components that can be earned through various modes of gameplay. Completing different parts of the game at different difficulty levels, defeating bosses, earning achievements in PvP, and earning various other achievements will unlock ways for players to customize their banner and show off their progress in the game.

What is the shared stash?
The shared stash is an inventory-management feature that allows players to stash items in a collective storage space for all of their characters. Items in the shared stash are accessible to the player regardless of which character is currently being played.

When will Diablo III be released?
It’s too early to estimate Diablo III’s release date. As with all Blizzard Entertainment games, our goal is to create a game that is as fun, balanced, and polished as possible. We intend to take as much time developing Diablo III as is necessary to ensure the game meets our own high expectations and those of our players. We’re aiming to release Diablo III on both Mac and Windows simultaneously in as many regions as possible, and to localize the game in several languages. We’ll have more details to share about countries, languages, and specific dates as we get closer to release.

What will Diablo III be rated?
The Diablo III rating will be determined by the ratings boards in each region. We will announce the rating that Diablo III has received in each region as we get closer to launch.

What are the system requirements for Diablo III?
We’ll announce specific system requirements at a later date.

Will Diablo III include support for bots and/or mods?
No, for a variety of gameplay and security reasons, we will not be supporting bots or mods in Diablo III, and they’ll be expressly prohibited by our terms of use for the game.

Will Diablo III be offered digitally as well as at retail stores? How much will it cost?
As with our previous game releases, we do intend to offer Diablo III for purchase digitally as well as at retail. Specific details regarding pricing and availability for each region will be announced closer to the release of the game.

Blizzard Entertainment provided us several Battle.net Interface screenshots as a glimpse into what you should expect once Diablo III beta starts. These screenshots show you how the Friends List and the Social Window look like and most of its features. The Diablo III Battle.net Interface looks awesome!

Cross-Game Friends List

The first image shows the Cross-Game Friends List accessible by clicking the social button on the lower-right corner. You get three lists: Party, Friends Playing Diablo III and the Additional Friends list shows all cross-game friends playing World of Warcraft or StarCraft II.

The lists on the left side of the social window allow you to see some basic info such as the real name of your friend followed by their character name. Their level, class, which Act they are playing at and the difficulty mode.

On the Additional Friends (Cross-Game Servers) list you will see instead the level, race, class, and location (Stormwind, Firelands, etc.) for World of Warcraft players, or the type of map your StarCraft II player friend is playing (2v2 Match).

When you click the name of a friend, a mini-page is displayed to the right of the lists tab. In this screenshot, when clicking over Nate Ng’s name the mini-page tab displays the Firelands artwork with the World of Warcraft: Cataclysm logo and some information such as the Real ID name of your friend, his character name, level, race, class, Play Time (1:57), Zone (Firelands) and Realm (Skullcrusher). This mini-window also has a Chat button to initiate a conversation with your friend.

At the top of the Social window are three buttons: Friends [7], Recent and Chat Lobby.

Diablo III Friends List

When clicking the name of a friend under the Friends Playing Diablo section you will see a lot of info about that friend on the mini-page area to the right of the Friends List tab.

To the top left appears the difficulty mode and a big icon graphic. In the case of this screenshot Brandon Johnson (Venom) is playing Nightmare difficulty mode. The text appears purple, and a big horned-skull with purple glow on its eye-sockets.

The background image seems to show the Act. In this screenshot, Venom is playing in Act 1. The background image looks like the Tristram Cathedral altar which matches with Act 1.

At the bottom-left of the mini-page you can read your friend’s Real ID name (Brandon Johnson). Beneath, the character name (Venom). Here is a peculiar info after that — a title (The Slayer) in orange text. After this you can read the level (35), and the class (Demon Hunter). Then Act 1 – Nightmare and the Playtime (2:35).

To the right is a large 3D model of your friend’s character wearing its armor and weapons. The coolest thing is the banner which reveals all his achievements. One of the screenshots in this page will show you more in depth what each of these banners display.

The Friends List info mini-page also provides three buttons at the bottom: Join Game, Invite and Chat — allowing you to interact with your friend in any of those options.

Character Selection

The Hero Select feature allows you to see all your characters on the left tab. When you click any of the characters the mini-page to the right side shows you some extra info.

Each of the characters names on the Hero Selection tab shows a small icon with the face of your character, the level and its class.

The mini-page shows the difficulty mode at the top-left with a small banner hanging showing a skull. In the case of this screenshot, Smarty is in normal mode displaying a green flag with a skull whose eye sockets glow green.

Below appears the character name (Smarty), level (22), class (Monk), time played (4 Hours, 22 minutes) and the Last Act (Act 1).

To the right of the mini-page is the 3D model of the character displaying armor and weapon. Seems to be animated and looks similar to the World of Warcraft character selection page. At the bottom of the character 3D model is the Select hero button which launches the Act 1 game for that character.

Something to note in this screenshot is that the limit of characters is set to 10. There are 6 characters and the message at the bottom says: “4 Hero Slots Remaining” — for a total of 10 Hero Slots.

At the bottom of the Hero Selection tab are two buttons: Create Hero and Delete Hero.

Main Menu Screen

The Main Menu of Diablo III is totally insane. We have seen the Main Menu before showing a large environment in the background, the character model and a banner, but never seen the menu options.

To the left in teal text appears the Main Menu displaying “Campaign Versus”. Beneath you have the following options: New Hero, Select Hero, Options (Likely graphic, sound and other settings), and Exit Game.

Now here is where things get very interesting. To the bottom right and straight on your Main Menu Screen is a Quick Join feature which shows you how many friends are Looking For Players. In this screenshot it says: “3 Friends Looking For Players”. Below that text you can read the Real ID names of your friends.

To the far right-center edge there are two icons. The text says “Party”. The icone below shows the name of Minax level 1 Monk, and the icon below that one says “Invite +” or Invite more.

Main Screen Basic Party

This screenshot shows how insane this Main Menu Screen is. You can chat with your party straight from this screen, invite people, and see all your friends who are Looking For Players.

From the previous image you could see that player Minax was under the Party text (right edge of the Main Menu Screen) and the “Plus” icon with the text: “Invite”. In this new screenshot, you can see three more players have been invited and all four icons are displayed vertically to the right edge of the screen with some basic info.

Minax level 8 Monk

Makeeno level 8 Wizard

Venom level 9 Demon Hunter

Jocose level 7 Barbarian

You can also see your party’s 3D models standing beside your character on the Main Menu Screen. To the bottom-left can be seen a chat window that can be scrolled up and down similar to that in World of Warcraft.

Main Screen Progression

The previous Monk is now level 39, and my, oh, my … has he progressed. His banner looks totally awesome displaying all his achievements. The last screenshot will show you what each of the features in your banner mean and what type of achievements it refers to.

Main Screen Progression Callouts

Now comes the cream of the cream. This last screenshot reveals what the banner and standard symbols mean.

The top of the banner standard shows a very detailed adornation made of metal, jewels and other stuff. This identifies you are a veteran of many Versus battles — so this is likely your player versus player achievement symbol.

The standard top where the banner hands on has two tallies.. Each displays small icons that describe your in-game achievements.

The tabard avatar displays you have completed a difficulty mode.

The bottom of the banner standard seems to denote a special type of achievement. A pile of bones and skulls with a bloody sword through a skull denotes you are a Hardcore Player.

This is the banner and standard other players can see when they click your name in the Friends List and in the Chat Lobby.

Blizzard Entertainment provided the Diablo III Beta Press Event attendees a B-roll video showing all classes battling through Tristram and the Cathedral dungeon. The monsters targeted are slightly red-highlighted to identify which the player is attacking at a given time. Some of the changes made to certain spells and abilities modified by runes can be seen in this b-roll video.

The Witch Doctor’s Wall of Zombies is modified by a rune displaying instead zombies climbing on top of each other creating a sort of tower then dropping forward over a bunch of monsters to pulverize them. The Witch Doctor has an ability to throw a jar upon the ground to unleash a giant spider minion. There is a weird stone-cloud animation around the giant spider. You can see the Witch Doctor and its three mongrels get a golden glow on their center every few seconds (Aura buff?).

01:31 – Interesting. There are two Fetish Shaman (as seen in Diablo II Act III: Kejinstan Jungle). They seem to be channeling a massive rune spell on the ground with a large area of effect. The Witch Doctor walks back and forth within the rune area, and monsters enter it. This scene suggests the Fetish Shaman are NPCs helping the Witch Doctor or they are summoned. The monsters seem to get damage over time while in the area of effect.

2:05 – The female Wizard casts a blue electric discharge in a frontal cone causing aoe damage to any mobs within 5 yards. Additionally, you can see her casting the firebolt-like ability. Whenever that’s cast, a pool of lava spawns beneath the Wizard. By moving away, you can force monsters to walk through these pool of lava.

3:40 – Odd. Monk abilities have golden special effects, but here are a few abilities with a teal special effect. Another resource type?

4:00 – The monk summons one of those giant bells and kicks it to knockback a large group of monsters. The rune effect used by the Wizard at 2:05 is seen again with the Monk. When he casts a specific ability, the ground beneath him becomes a pool of boiling lava.

6:50 – Demon Hunter casts Fan of Knives. A redish rune appears before the fan of knives kicks in, allowing you to preview the circular range to be affected.

7:00 – The male Wizard casts a huge elemental nova. All mobs within the nova get knockback and a slow-movement windy-like aura for a few seconds. Curious thing: The wizard is using a sable sword and shoots some magic spells through the sword.

We’re introducing a powerful auction house system that will provide a safe, fun, and easy-to-use way for players to buy and sell the loot they obtain in the game. Items can be sold and purchased using real-world money or in-game gold.

An Easier Way To Trade

Sure, slaying monsters, demons, and cultists is a surefire way to obtain a ton of random new loot in Diablo III, but with the new auction house feature, it’ll be easier than ever to gear up your character with the exact items you’re looking for. You can also post the items you don’t need for players who are desperately searching for what you’ve got!

Don’t Need It? Put It Up For Auction!

Nearly everything found in the game, including gold, can be exchanged with other players directly or through the auction house system. So say you’re a witch doctor and you’ve just found an incredibly rare, incredibly powerful axe that only barbarians can use. In the previous Diablo games your best option might have been to sell the axe to an in-game vendor, but in Diablo III, you now have the ability to list that axe in the auction house for your fellow barbarian players to bid on. And you know another player will probably appreciate the true value of that axe more than some heartless vendor who’ll likely just melt it down for scrap…

Amazing Search Functionality

The auction house’s “smart search” functionality can automatically sort items in the auction house based on which upgrades would be most beneficial to your character. Also, searching for the best gear for multiple characters on the same Battle.net account can be done all from the same interface without having to log out.

The Choice Is Yours

Use of either the real-money or gold-based auction house is completely optional — that decision can be made on a per-item basis, and both versions of the auction house are functionally the same. In addition, players have the option to simply sell the items they obtain to in-game vendors for gold. They can also trade items to other players through a direct character-to-character trading system in the game in exchange for gold, other items, or just an overwhelming sense of goodwill.

Players Only

Blizzard does not plan to post items for sale in the auction house. The driving purpose of the auction house is to provide players with a fun additional in-game option for what they do with the items they obtain in the game. Items sold in the auction house will be posted by players and purchased by players.

Safe and Sanctified

The real-money auction house provides players with an easy-to-use, Blizzard-sanctioned way to collect money for items they obtain while playing Diablo III. It also helps protect players from the scams and theft often associated with questionable third-party sites by providing a secure, completely in-game method for purchasing and obtaining the items they want for their characters.

Faster Than A Seven-Sided Strike

Sellers can post items for auction from any of the Diablo III characters on their Battle.net account, or from their shared stash (extra inventory space accessible with any of the characters on their account), without logging out. And after a buyer has won an auction, the item will become immediately available to be equipped and put to good use in the ongoing struggle against the forces of the Burning Hells.

The primary reason for the Diablo III beta test is for us to test out our new hardware, see how the server–client infrastructure holds up, and look for bugs in the installer and patcher as well as the game. We’re also looking to get some quality feedback about the beginning game experience and how the different classes feel. The beta test will help us ensure that the release is stable and fun, and that we’re ultimately able to deliver the experience we intend with Diablo III.

How do I sign up for the Diablo III beta test?

To sign up for the Diablo III beta test or future Blizzard Entertainment beta tests, you first need to create a Battle.net account. You can then opt-in to the beta test for Diablo III, as well as beta tests for future Blizzard Entertainment games, through the beta opt-in process. To get started, simply click Beta Profile Settings in Battle.net Account Management. Please note that opting in to a beta test through this method does not guarantee that you will be selected.

If I opted in to the Diablo III beta, how will I know if I’ve been selected to participate?

If you are selected, you will receive an email from Blizzard instructing you to log in to your Battle.net account at www.battle.net if you don’t already have one. You’ll then be able to download the beta client directly from within Battle.net Account Management. We plan on inviting players in waves, so if you do not receive an invitation in the beginning of the testing period, there’s a chance you might receive one in a later wave.

1,000 Diablo III beta keys were promised at BlizzCon; how do I know if I am winner?

We will be sending out emails with beta keys to winners along with detailed instructions on how to access the beta test. Players who receive a beta key via email will need to create a Battle.net account, click “Add or Upgrade a Game” in Account Management, and enter the key there. The beta client will then be available for download from within Battle.net Account Management.

How long will the beta test last?

We have not determined an exact date for the end of the beta test. We will notify participants when the beta test is nearing completion.

How many players do you plan to invite to the beta test?

The number of players we invite will be based on our testing needs. If during the course of testing we determine we need more players to participate, we’ll invite more.

How are beta test participants selected from the opt-in pool?

Beta testers are chosen according to their system specs and other factors, including luck. Our goal is to have a good variety of system types to best test compatibility.

Which regions will be able to participate in the beta test?

All regions will be able to participate in the Diablo III beta test; however, to keep the process as efficient as possible, and ultimately to release the game as soon as possible, we plan to roll out the hardware infrastructure for Diablo III in waves, starting with North America. This means that players outside of North America who are granted access to the beta test may experience some latency issues.

What game content will be available in the beta?

You’ll be able to try out all 5 character classes and experience the early stages of Diablo III from the start of the game through the Skeleton King encounter. You’ll be able to interact with new and returning characters in New Tristram and fight the reawakened evils emanating from the cursed Tristram Cathedral. You’ll also experience the randomized elements of Diablo III as well many of the new system designs that take many of the core Diablo design elements to a whole new level.

Will the progress I make during the beta test carry over when the game launches?

No, the purpose of the beta test is to ensure that the game and hardware infrastructure are ready to go as soon as possible. The main benefit of participating is being able to be among the first to play the game extensively prior to release. However, everyone will start on equal footing once the game is launched.

Will the Diablo III Auction House be available in the beta?

Yes, we plan on testing the functionality of the Diablo III gold-based auction house during the beta phase.

Will Mac users be able to participate in the beta?

Yes, Mac users will be able to participate in the beta at the same time as Windows-based users.

After 10 years of anticipation following Blizzard Entertainment’s Diablo II (2000) and its expansion, Diablo II: Lord of Destruction (2001), the iconic action-RPG gameplay of the Diabloseries is back with a vengeance in Diablo III. In the upcoming Diablo IIIbeta test, selected participants will be among the first in the world to rejoin the battle against the minions of the Burning Hells as they explore part of the game’s foreboding first act.

Stay Awhile And Listen!

Meet up with Deckard Cain in New Tristram and get up to speed on what’s been happening in Sanctuary since the events of Diablo II. Interact with the townspeople and introduce yourself to Leah to immerse yourself in the world and lore of Diablo.

Choose Your Hero Wisely

All 5 character classes will be playable in the beta test: the dual-wielding barbarian, the fearsome witch doctor, the elementally adept wizard, the dexterous monk, and the notoriously deadly demon hunter. Each character brings the pain to the demons and undead of Sanctuary in unique and spectacular ways.

Who’s Afraid Of The Big Bad Skeleton King?

Evil is alive once more in the bowels of the Tristram Cathedral as the once-vanquished Skeleton King returns to plague the tiny village with gruesome horrors. The beta will pit players against this returning Diablo villain as they battle to restore peace and tranquility to New Tristam — and to finally put the tortured soul of King Leoric to rest.

Good Company In Bad Times

Players will be able to meet and interact with some of the Artisans and Followers of Sanctuary during the beta test. These characters will aid your hero in different ways along his or her journey, providing some valuable services and much-needed martial companionship.

Something Looks Different…

Each play-through of the beta test will feel like a new experience thanks to the randomized elements of Diablo III. Randomized maps, monster distribution, scripted events, and loot all make for highly replayable gameplay.

A (Treasure) Hunting We Will Go

Finding, collecting, enhancing, and trading items has always been a core component of the Diablo series, and like its predecessors, Diablo III was designed from the ground up to make the rewards as much fun as the challenges. During the beta test, players will experience the joy of anticipation and discovery with every enemy they lay waste to, ever-searching for that amazing upgrade that will take their character to a whole new realm of power.

Make It Your Own

Each character is brimming with possibilities. Which potent combination of skills, weapons, armor, and enhancements — including gems, charms, and runestones — will you assemble? With countless ways to customize each hero, players will definitely get a taste of what it means to be unique in the Diablo III beta test.

During the SDCC 2011 World of Warcraft, StarCraft and Diablo Swag Show panel held by Blizzard Entertainment and its licensed partners, Blizzard license product manager Kat Hunter and Blizzard SVP of Creative Design Chris Metzen revealed a few details of the upcoming Diablo III: Book of Cain.

Stay tuned to Blizzplanet. I have been in contact with Insight Editions since early July and waited until the SDCC panel for the official roundup of details to surface. Now that the cat’s out of the bag, I will request some preview scans. This might take a while because the Book of Cain book will be on sale around the Diablo III launch date.

Transcript

Chris Metzen: 13:04 – “Another really cool project we are working on with a brother named Flint Dille is a source book for the Diablo universe. It’s been many years since we published a Diablo game. There’s a lot of weird stuff floating out there in the internet and wikis and things like that, so we wanted the opportunity to really create a product — it’s essentially Deckard Cain’s journal … I think we are calling it the Book of Cain … where over the course of his adventures, his archaeology, and studying of the manuscripts over the years he’s put together a compendium of what makes the Diablo universe the Diablo universe.”

13:34 – “We are highlighting Heaven and Hell, the people that lives there, the realms of Heaven and Hell, the history of Sanctuary, the lands of Sanctuary, highlighting maybe the classes that have been playable in the games up to this point, notable people in history and pretty much trying to create a fairly tight compendium of all Diablo lore and you know one nice edition. So with any luck, that book will pop around whenever the game comes out and will be a very useful tool in getting back up on what’s up with the Diablo universe. So that’s something we are very very excited about and working on rapidly and intensely right now.

During the SDCC 2011 World of Warcraft, StarCraft and Diablo Swag Show panel, DC Comics Hank Kanalz revealed details of their Blizzard licensed graphic novels.

There will be two World of Warcraft graphic novels telling the stories of a Alliance team and a Horde team. These won’t be your usual mega heroes like Varian or Thrall. Each team is composed of characters like any other player, more down to earth. Teams that come unwillingly together to handle specific threats.

The characters are the same shown in World of Warcraft Special # 1 (Dec 2009) who were going to star in the now cancelled ongoing comic book series … World of Warcraft: Alliance # 26 and the World of Warcraft: Horde # 1. As everyone knows, the ongoing comic books were cancelled, and shortly after Wildstorm was shutdown after 18 years in the business (read Jim Lee’s Farewell). DC Comics inherited the rights to develop the World of Warcraft and StarCraft Graphic Novels.

During the SDCC 2011 panel, DC Comics Hank Kanalz unveiled three OMG-Awesome-sauce covers of the World of Warcraft: Dark Riders, World of Warcraft: Bloodsworn and StarCraft Graphic Novels. I think we have never seen artwork like this before in DC Comics Warcraft and StarCraft comic books. They look WoW TCG / Blizzard top-notch quality.

This Horde militia team is put together to address a new threat to the Horde from a new power behind the Centaur.

World of Warcraft: Dark Riders

The World of Warcraft: Dark Riders Graphic Novel shows four characters on the front cover. These fit the class and race profile shown in World of Warcraft Special # 1 for the characters that were to debut in the cancelled ongoing series: World of Warcraft: Alliance # 26. These characters in the front cover of the World of Warcraft: Dark Riders graphic novel are: Brink (gnome rogue), Karlain (human mage), Mardigan (Worgen warrior), and Revil (human priest). Loreli Fallglade (female night elf) is missing in the front cover, but she was shown in the 2009 Special # 1.

World of Warcraft: Dark Riders is written by Mike Costa, with artwork by Samwise Didier, Neil Googe, and Alex Horley Orlandelli. The Alliance story delves into the history of the Worgen, the Scythe of Elune, and the Dark Riders. After reading through this graphic novel fans will learn where the Dark Riders came from.

StarCraft Graphic Novel

The StarCraft Graphic Novel (Untitled yet) will debut in 2012 by writer Simon Furman and artwork by Wei Wang. It is a 120-pages hardcover graphic novel featuring Kerrigan vs Nova.

Transcript

Hank Kanalz: Hank Kanalz: 25:34 – We are moving to do exclusive graphic novels for the World of Warcraft property. We got a couple in the workshift, the first one is a World of Warcraft Alliance graphic novel. It is written by Mike Costa and illustrated by Neil Googe. Mike Costa is better known for his work in The Transformers and G.I. Joe). Terrific writer, but also extremely into the Warcraft mythos here.

26:05 – It’s very interesting because while working on the script he’s like “I’m doing research, I’m doing research”. We know what he means. He works very closely with Micky Neilson and the lore team to really put together a lot of information in this expansive epic graphic novel that really focuses on the Alliance and the history of the Worgen. So, Micky do you want to talk about how’s it been so far?”

Micky Neilson: 26:35 – “How many people actually played the Scythe of Elune questline? This features the Scythe of Elune. It features Worgen. Some of you who played that questline must remember the Dark Riders. You never actually got to see the Dark Riders in the game. So this is a really cool opportunity to see them, to get into their history, where they came from.

27:02 – And also featuring characters who are not marquee characters. It’s not King Varian. They are more like the characters that you play everyday in the game.”

Hank Kanalz: 27:18 – “It’s been terrific too, because working with these guys very directly we are able to live a lot of the storylines together, a lot of the stuff you see in-game, or couple bits and pieces in Christie’s novels and the other novels all relate to each other. So you would be very pleased with how this is tied into everything else.

27:38 – Art by the fantastic Neil Googe. He’s terrific. He is been in Thailand for several months now, but he’s moved back to UK and he’s on homestretch finishing up the OGN. It should be up in the fourth quarter of this year.

27:52 – Next up is the Horde OGN (Ongoing Graphic Novel). This one is fantastic as well obviously. Working with Jheremy Rapaak on art, and Doug Wagner on the script. Doug is no newcomer. He’s probably most recently known for the work he did on RED which became a motion picture. He did some of the adaptatin work for comics. Rapaak is known for his work in Xmen vs Hulk. So who better to draw the orcs than a artists with his caliber. Again, terrific work. Hardcore player. He’s going really deep on details on the armor sets. Doug going very deep on story detail with Garrosh putting together an elite team of Horde warriors, and through this Micky has been working closely with Doug.”

Micky Neilson: 28:50 – “There’s a militia team, and there is a member of each race on this team, and they are kinda forced into this situation where they have to confront this new threat which is tied into the Centaur, and a new power behind the Centaur. So it’s really a representation of the Horde itself and the Horde is comprised of races who had to come together, and they are kinda forced to work together.”

Hank Kanalz: Expect the Horde OGN in the fourth quarter of this year.

31:28 – Next we have the StarCraft graphic novel. It’s a 120-pages hardcover that’s coming on 2012. It’s written by Simon Furman who is probably best known for his The Transformers work, past and present. He also worked in the ongoing StarCraft comic book that we used to ship in a monthly basis.

This one is an epic battle between Nova and Sarah Kerrigan. We were talking about the novel earlier there.

During the SDCC 2011 World of Warcraft, StarCraft and Diablo Swag Show panel, Blizzard licensing product manager Kat Hunter reported they are excited about their new partnership with Mega Bloks. A product line-up will be revealed more in-depth at BlizzCon 2011 between October 21-22.

The first wave of products will come out in 2012. Kat Hunter displayed onscreen a work-in-progress of the StarCraft II Viking Mega Blok. It actually transforms back and forth between flying or land vehicle modes. Could this be a hint of what some of these products are capable of? This product was shown to Blizzard recently by Mega Bloks representatives. Blizzard fell in love with the prototype and the house of ideas started jamming right away with the guys at Mega Bloks the possible line-up of StarCraft II and World of Warcraft units that might be attractive to fans. They decided which products will come out first, and last.

More information will come afloat at BlizzCon, and Kat Hunter revealed there will be a BlizzCon exclusive Mega Blok set of 2000 pieces. I’m not certain if it will be in the Swag Bag or on sale. We will find out as BlizzCon nears and the Swag Bag content is revealed.

During the SDCC 2011 World of Warcraft, StarCraft and Diablo Swag Show panel, Cryptozoic CEO Cory Jones revealed a new World of Warcraft TCG expansion titled Throne of the Tides which introduces a third faction which includes new monster heroes and races: Naga, Murlocs, Ogres; and monster allies for your card deck. Cryptozoic is very excited about this new feature.

In addition, Cryptozoic plans to introduce a new Product known as “Dungeon Decks”, a new gameplay dynamic for small amount of players 3-5 or such.

Cryptozoic CEO Cory Jones and Micky Neilson debunked the rumor I started (bonks-self) that there are plans to launch brand-new mangas. However, Micky Neilson and Chris Metzen acknowledged they loved to develop all these mangas with TOKYOPOP, and the door is not close for new Warcraft and StarCraft manga some time in the future when the time is right and ripe. That’s certainly a relief. Want Moar Manga.

Transcript

Cory Jones: “14:28 – One of the things that we hope to do with the TCG is the idea that we need to continually innovate and create something that remains fresh and fun for our consumers. We are coming into five and a half to six years now. We’re now on our sixteenth set of the TCG. I think that’s a remarkable accomplishment. Most TCGs don’t last that long.

15:00 – But for that to be something that is a benefit, we need to continue to innovate. When Blizzard helped create Cryptozoic that was one of the big things that came out of that was they want a partner that you know do whatever it takes to make sure that part of quality is there.

15:14 – So the next set coming up is THRONE OF THE TIDES, and it’s going to be very interesting because for the first time we’ve created sort of a third faction. Not an official faction, that is monster specific. The first set will allow you to play a monster hero and you will have the nagas, the murlocs, the ogres — and the handhold that goes along with playing these monster races are incredibly fun with splashy effects, and the set will also have monster allies that you can put on your deck.

15:48 – So the way it’s going to work is you can be Horde or Alliance and throw a monster in, or be a Monster Hero and if you are a Monster Hero then you can only play with Monster Allies which is going to be a ton of fun. We are very excited about it.

16:01 – So the next thing, we’ve been lucky enough to be right next door to Blizzard and work very closely with them, and so for this very next set coming up — the Aftermath block — we are gonna actually include sort of [one on one ties (sp?)] back into the lore and the story as it’s happening.

16:16 – That has always been a challenge for the trading card game because the lead times are so long that you have to actually catch up with what’s happening in the MMO is incredibly difficult. We’ve finally after five years now been able to accomplish that with the last set of the Worldbreaker block actually included things around Cataclysm and as you can see in the last set we have actually gotten Deathwing as a Master Hero, so that was a splashy exciting card that we were able to include. That was awesome, and as we move forward, we are actually working with the lore team and with Chris Metzen to make sure that characters, in advance, that are going to be coming up in the MMO are reflected in the trading card game so that it’s a very natu ral extension of your experience with the IP in terms of learning about that lore, and for me that’s what I feel is great about all of this license because it allows you to have a much deeper connection to this property we are very very passionate about, and we want to make sure that we are one of those companies that advocates that experience, that’s a big priority.

17:15 – So one of the core elements for Cryptozoic is our model which is “Fans first”, and nothing really speaks to our “Fans first” ideal as much as all of the events we put on. We spend millions of dollars a year putting on events all around the world. We attend all of the major shows, and we make sure that they are very active; and large communities centered around the trading card game have this incredibly robust organized play program.

17:34 – Coming up for 2011, we actually have our World Championships, it’s going to be in Amsterdam. We are a global property. It’s just like the World of Warcraft MMO. We have offices in China, we have offices in Europe. We service an actual global community. One of the things we did recently was a World Cup, and we had 26 different countries represented with their own teams, it was very successful event. Everyone had a great time.

18:10 – Coming up shortly is the World of Warcraft World Championships, that’s gonna be in Amsterdam, and it has $250,000 as a cash prize pool, which is by far the biggest cash prize pool for any TCG out there. People gets very excited about that. It’s a very serious competition, and we are looking forward to see how it turns out in that event.

18:34 – Some of the things we are trying to do is to support the Brick and Mortar Hobby industry without finding someone to play a physical trading card game. So having some of those shops supported and doing great, having a place where you can go to meet up with your friends, and play some WoW TCG is incredibly important for us. We are doing all kinds of programs. One of the ones coming up are the Goblins of Anarchy Promotion. So we put out a series of four different cards and the only way to get these cards is to actually go down to a local Hobby Store and they give it to you free as a participation prize, and when you are actually going to run events when you can play with these cards on your deck, and they are not legal typically because they are wildly overpowered but it’s going to be something you can play with in these tournaments, and they are incredibly fun. The goblin cards are Power, Time, Cunning and Money. Those are the riders of the Apocalypse for the goblins.

19:35 – The WoW TCG innovated the idea of a raid deck where it was sort of a “one versus many” idea where someone would be the raid boss, you would invite friends over and you could have this sort of very interesting single experience with your friends trying to build this series of decks that could [be you as a massive raid boss], and playing all those overpowered cards and trying to beat other people is quitely enjoyable, and you would team up with other players to try to take your friend down.

20:08 – We had an incredible response to that over the course of the WoW TCG’s life. As always we try to think through how we can innovate and come up with something a little different and unique play experience. What we are doing moving forward is we are doing Dungeon Decks. So the idea of a dungeon deck is that it is a smaller experience than the Raid, but it is an automated dungeon deck. Sometimes it is hard to find a group of four people to play a trading card game with. The way that this works is that you can actually play between two and four people against the dungeon deck.

Or we could play three people with the Class Starter Deck, one of the gr eat features of it is there are rules inside the dungeon deck to level your deck up, so you’ll actually be able to get experience and then have access to new cards to add to your deck based on your deck leveling up. So you can continue on with the same deck and face all of the different dungeons: The Deadmines, Scarlet Monastery, and Shadowfang Keep. We have tons of quests for those locations, because people have such a strong emotional connections to those original dungeon experiences in WoW.

21:30 – Very excited about dungeon decks. The idea of leveing up my deck, and it is something I keep and I bring with me and I add new cards and I think about what kinda cards I want add as I level. That to me is very compelling as a huge fan of Warcraft and also as a huge fan of the TCG.

During the SDCC 2011 World of Warcraft, StarCraft and Diablo Swag Show panel, Chris Metzen, Micky Neilson and Christie Golden revealed details of the upcoming novels line-up from Gallery Books — a division of CBS and Simon & Schuster, Inc.

Christie Golden is writing a brand-new World of Warcraft novel based on the Alliance. Chris Metzen says that’s two Alliance books counting World of Warcraft: Wolfheart by Richard A. Knaak.

This new book by Christie Golden doesn’t have a title yet, but Metzen described it is focused on Jaina Proudmoore. The post-Cataclysm tensions are ramping up a few notches up between the Alliance and the Horde again.

We should expect life-changing events coming for Jaina Proudmoore (Metzen and Christie Golden grin enigmatically as this was said).

There are plans to create a World of Warcraft: Wolfheart Audiobook. Blizzard is playing with the idea of innovating with audiobooks by introducing audio dramas: music, special effect sounds, voices from the game — something new they are excited about.

Transcript

Chris Metzen: “Just to give you an overview of some of the things we are doing, we just released World of Warcraft: Thrall: Twilight of the Aspects — which for the record takes place before patch 4.2. That kinda ties a lot of Thrall’s weird daddy issues and such.

We did World of Warcraft: Wolfheart with Richard A. Knaak and we have been developing that for a while. Now for all of you Alliance fans who feel we have been riffing on the Horde and/or Thrall for too long — Wolfheart definitely doubles down on the Alliance. We are pretty much getting into King Varian’s nature kinda been possessed by the spirit of the wolf god Lo’Gosh, who’s also the source of the Worgen transformation.

So his nature is potentially the high King of the Alliance, what kind of man he is, how’s the inclusion of the Worgen and all that history playing with the current vibe of the Alliance, and how this guy is doing as King.

I can tell you we want to see Varian become a character that is highly beloved.

The StarCraft: Ghost–Spectres book it’s been a long time in the making. For those of you who remember, we were developing a console game many years ago called GHOST, featuring a character named Nova.

Many years ago, we put out a book named StarCraft Ghost: Nova, which was essentially that character’s origin and at long last the Spectres novel is essentially the novelization of what the game StarCraft: Ghost would have been.

That game plot, Nova’s kinda champion level adventures. Spectres has a lot to do with that. In the novel, Gabriel Tosh — in the front cover — is a character we have jammed for Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty. All of these characters have a pretty deep background, and we are very excited about that book.

A couple of other things, the title is sketchy but we are doing a Diablo book that’s coming up umm that essentially — ugh how do I say this without getting in trouble, uh — very significant amount of time has passed between the last Diablo expansion (Diablo II: Lord of Destruction) and the game that we are currently working on (Diablo III), so the book that is coming out which features Deckard Cain is going to bridge the gap between Diablo games past and what we are currently developing and it’s coming really-really cool, pretty dark.

It gets into the lore of the Horadrim, kinda the group that originally put Diablo down.

We are also working on Christie by the way. She is working on a new Warcraft book. This will make Alliance in the room very happy, and you get two Alliance books in a row, and as it turns out, but the new book — it still doesn’t have a title yet attached to it currently, but it’s going to — tensions post-Cataclysm between the Alliance and the Horde are ramping up again. This book is going to focus on Jaina Proudmoore, a character we haven’t really been able to do a whole lot over the years, but she’s definitely got some life changes coming, and her story is going to literally kick ass and really begin to take the tension between the Alliance and the Horde up a few notches going forward.

To wrap up those are the novels we are cooking in the oven as we speak.”

During the SDCC 2011 World of Warcraft, StarCraft and Diablo Swag Show panel held by Blizzard Entertainment and its licensed partners, J!NX Creative Overlord Sean Gailey revealed plans to launch several Blizzard licensed products including the following:

The SDCC 2011 was bombastic with information about upcoming Blizzard licensed products. DC Comics Hank Kanalz dropped the bomb with a very exciting new product many have been expecting for a long time. DC Comics will launch a 5-issues mini-series based on Diablo III.

The Diablo: Sword of Justice is coming soon by writer Aaron Williams and artwork Joseph Lacroix. It is an original 5-issues comic book mini-series. It features a kid named Jacob who has visions of a prophecy. Very interesting plot.

Everyone knows that Tyrael threw his sword toward the corrupted Worldstone to destroy it at the end of Diablo II: Lord of Destruction. Tyrael disappeared and he was never seen after this point. The plot features Tyrael’s sword will be calling to a human kid to serve as the avatar of Justice on Sanctuary. It has the ingredients of a great Diablo story. The story has Barbarians and elements of demonic corruption.

Transcript

Hank Kanalz: 29:40 – “Diablo: Sword of Justice is an original 5-issue mini-series and it is written by Aaron Williams who is best known for his work on North40 and PS238. On the covers is Joseph Lacroix. He’s a great new find that the folks at Blizzard actually stumbled across and work with.

This is his first american comics work and he’s fantastic. Really nice fine line there. This one is a story about Jacob and he is led by visions of an ancient prophecy that leads him to the Diablo world and the archangel.”

Micky Neilson: 30:24 – This story features Tyrael’s sword. For those of you who know the Diablo lore, at the end of Diablo II expansion, Tyrale destroyed the Worldstone. Tyrael disappeared after that. So this is a story about his sword basically calling to a human to serve as the avatar of justice on Sanctuary. So it’s got all the ingredients of a great Diablo story. It’s got Tyrael’s sword. It got a mortal hero. It’s got Barbarians. It’s got demonic corruption and it’s got a sexy wizard. Everything you could want.

Hank Kanalz: He really brings the European flare. He’s a french artist. You can see the pages upon the screen have a terrific look and approach. We are also please to announce Dave Stewart (Ultimate X-Men, Ultimate Fantastic Four) will be coloring the story as well.

The following links will take you to each of the product details that surfaced during the SDCC 2011 World of Warcraft, StarCraft and Diablo Swag Show panel. Video embed of the panel can be found in each of the links (courtesy of Gamespot):

“If you are at Comic-Con this year, make sure you swing by Artists Alley for I will be commanding booth # AA-09. If you have art you want signed, bring it! If you do not, fret not. I will have cards, prints, and posters for sale. So stop by, bring ale, swords or other worthy offerings to the Panda King and we will revel in the Comic-Con majesty! For the bloody Horde!

Love,
-Samwise”

Samwise Didier will bring 8.5″ x 11″ prints of his favorite World of Warcraft Horde and Alliance cards, World of Warcraft artist proof cards, and two non blizzard artwork posters (11″ X 17″ and 28″ X 36″). You can’t miss grabbing any of these limited and rare gifts.

YES, YES, yEs, yES, Yes, YeS, Y-E-S (cools off) … Chris Metzen is coming to San Diego Comic Con. You have heard here in Blizzplanet details of the World of Warcraft Graphic Novels might be revealed at this upcoming event to be held on July 21-24. Stay tuned on Blizzplanet for any new information. I’ll be contacting some of my past liaisons.

Here are the details for all our Blizzard Entertainment fans. It seems Blizzard and their licensed product partners are unveiling a few surprises for DIABLO, World of Warcraft and StarCraft fans!!! … clears throat — DIABLO products !!!!!

THURSDAY, JULY 21
1:00pm -2:00pm (Room 6BCF)

World of Warcraft, Diablo, and StarCraft Swag Show: Blizzard Entertainment creative and licensed partners unveil and discuss World of Warcraft, Diablo, and StarCraft-inspired products. In attendance:

Things this panel might unveil … details of the World of Warcraft: Alliance, World of Warcraft: Horde and StarCraft Graphic Novels seem imminent with the presence of DC Comics Hank Kanalz in this panel alongside Chris Metzen.

Cryptozoic Entertainment’s Cory Jones might unveil upcoming World of Warcraft Trading Card Game products. Jinx might announce the Fall 2011 line-up of World of Warcraft, StarCraft II and Diablo III T-shirts. There’s no word from Sideshow Collectibles, but I asked Sideshow’s president in a public Q&A about two or three years ago about upcoming Blizzard products and he admitted there were some ideas on the table. Could this be the year? I bet many owners of the Barbarian diorama would be happy to get ahold of the other four classes to make it company.

There are a few companies known to have licensed product ties with Blizzard Entertainment to be attending San Diego Comic Con. While my radars are silent on any incoming new product announcements, it’d be good that you check out their booths and ask questions. Feel free to inform us, or to share video/photos:

Italian painter Lucio Parrillo will be at a non-Blizzard panel at Room 28DE on Thursday, July 21 from 2:30pm to 5:00pm. If you are a WoW TCG fan, bring your cards for signing.

Check out the map below by holding the right-button and choosing “Open Link in New Tab”. The green square marks will help you find the booth numbers listed above.

Christie Golden will participate in the Blizzard Entertainment World of Warcraft, Starcraft and Diablo Swag Show Panel on Thursday, July 21 between 1:00pm -2:00pm (Room 6BCF).

After the panel, you will have the chance to get your books signed. Christie Golden informed me that she will be at the Mysterious Galaxy Booth # 1119 on Thursday, July 21 from 2:30 – 3:20 PM signing copies of World of Warcraft: Thrall, Twilight of the Aspects, and other stuff. There are some rules to follow as per Mysterious Galaxy. There are only 75 tickets to join the signing row. You must print out the newsletter and bring it with you during the Exhibit Hall opening to redeem your ticket. Again, a ticket is required to gain access to this signing. More details here (PDF).

Blizzard Entertainment’s Legendary Samwise Didier (Senior Art Director) will be signing at the Artist Alley table AA-09 at the San Diego Comic Con 2011 all four days through July 21-24.

This is a perfect opportunity to meet the man that has inspired and shaped the visuals of StarCraft, Diablo and Warcraft universes.

“If you are at Comic-Con this year, make sure you swing by Artists Alley for I will be commanding booth # AA-09. If you have art you want signed, bring it! If you do not, fret not. I will have cards, prints, and posters for sale. So stop by, bring ale, swords or other worthy offerings to the Panda King and we will revel in the Comic-Con majesty! For the bloody Horde!

Love,
-Samwise”

Samwise Didier will bring 8.5″ x 11″ prints of his favorite World of Warcraft Horde and Alliance cards, World of Warcraft artist proof cards, and two non blizzard artwork posters (11″ X 17″ and 28″ X 36″). You can’t miss grabbing any of these limited and rare gifts.

Blizzard Entertainment invited Blizzplanet to the Diablo III press event held in Irvine on July 27, 2011. DJTyrant had the opportunity to listen to the developers introduce attendees all the details about the upcoming beta testing and the updated changes to some of the game systems.

Check out the links below to browse through the content coverage obtained during the Diablo III Press Event.

Media

Several fansites and gaming networks attended the Diablo III Beta Press Event which took place at Blizzard Entertainment’s headquarters in Irvine, California on July 27, 2011. You might find appealing their own points of views and opinions.

There were over 65,000 attendees in New York Comic Con through Feb 6-8, and hundreds of costumed fans and hot chicks. I was only able to record a few of them with what little battery power I had. There were some very good costumes like the gigantic chewbacca, Wonder Woman and Spider-Woman. Check them all out:

We were at the New York Comic Con 2009 to bring you videos of the event. Today, you can watch the book signing session held at the Tokyopop booth where Blizzard Entertainment Senior VP of Creative Development Chris Metzen and the Senior Writer & Voice Director Micky Neilson joined book writers Keith R.A. DeCandido (Starcraft Ghost: Academy), Josh Elder (StarCraft: Frontline Vol. 1) and Grace Randolph (Starcraft Frontline Vol. 2) to meet and greet fans.

At the end of video # 2 you will see Chris Metzen, Micky Neilson signing the Starcraft Comic Book Posters exclusively for our giveaway to fans. They are also signed by the manga writers. If you want the opportunity to win one of these signed posters follow the link to participate.

If you were at the event, you will probably have great memories to share with your friends and guildmates. Enjoy.

Many Blizzard fans attended the 2009 New York Comic Con for the opportunity to meet the thundergod Chris Metzen (Senior VP of Creative Development) and Micky Neilson (Senior Writer & Voice Director) during the Simon & Schuster book signing session.

There were a lot of happy fans handing over their copies of World of Warcraft: Night of the Dragon, the Comic Book Vol. 1 hardcover, even the Wrath of the Lich King Collector’s Edition Art Book. I remember one of the fans brought the wall-mounting accessory of the Frostmourne sword replica to be signed. It was a fun experience to both Alliance and Horde players; and the developers were quite satisfied and passionate about the fans’ reactions.

Blizzplanet and WorldofWar.net was there to interview both Blizzard developers, and to record most of the book signing session. Below you can watch all three videos.